To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Cristiano Ronaldo Tops Instagram Rich List For The First Time

Cristiano Ronaldo Tops Instagram Rich List For The First Time

Cristiano Ronaldo beat The Rock, Ariana Grande, and - crucially - Lionel Messi to the top of the Instagram rich list

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

Juventus and Portugal footballer Cristiano Ronaldo - as if you hadn't heard of him already - has topped a recent Instagram rich list, and is thought to be the person who can charge the most for a sponsored post on the social media platform.

Not that he really needs the cash, given that he's one of the most recognisable and well-retained footballers ever to exist, but - y'know - it's always nice to get paid, isn't it?

Apparently, CR7 - as he is affectionately known by his fans - is able to charge brands $1.6 million (£1.2m) for one single post on his Instagram account, according to social media marketing boffins Hopper HQ.

Ronaldo has hundreds of millions of Instagram followers.
PA

The former Real Madrid and Manchester United star knocked movie star Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson - once known as The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment - off the top of the list in order to occupy the number one spot for the first time.

To be fair, the list has only been in existence since 2017, but it's still quite the accolade.

Ronaldo, who has won the Ballon d'Or award for the world's best footballer five times, has more than 308 million followers on the social media platform.

As for The Rock, despite the fact that he's been the highest-paid actor in the world and starred in franchises like Jumanji and Fast & Furious, he can only charge a frankly pitiful $1.52m (£1m) for each Instagram post.

Pathetic, really.

The Rock came second.
PA

In case you're wondering where Lionel Messi features on this list, he's way down in seventh place.

Guess that puts that debate to rest once and for all, then.

Behind Rocky and CR7 is musician Ariana Grande.

Grande is capable of charging $1.51m (£1.09m) for a sponsored Instagram post.

The list is complied by UK-based Hopper HQ, which has analysed internal as well as publicly available data to ascertain the highest-paid stars on Instagram.

Ariana Grande was in third.
PA

The Hopper team weighed up the number of followers on an account, as well as their average engagement with posts, frequency of posts, and other industry variables.

Mike Bandar, the company's co-founder, said: "As Covid-19 continues to impact all our lives, it appears that Instagram is the one of the few places not negatively impacted by the pandemic, and with people using the app more than ever before, some could say it was inevitable earnings would peak this year.

"It was great to see Cristiano Ronaldo take the number one spot this year after steadily ranking within the top five throughout the list's history.

"With the Euros this year and a few controversial marketing moves over the last couple of weeks, the football royalty's presence has skyrocketed."

Lionel Messi was a distant seventh.
PA

Here's the full top 10:

1. Cristiano Ronaldo, 308m followers - just over $1.6m per post

2. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, 250m followers, $1.52m per post

3. Ariana Grande, 247m followers, $1.51m per post

4. Kylie Jenner, 244m followers, $1.49m per post

5. Selena Gomez, 241m followers - $1.46m per post

6. Kim Kardashian, 232m followers - $1.41m per post

7. Lionel Messi, 224m followers - $1.16m per post

8. Beyonce Knowles, 189m followers - $1.14m per post

9. Justin Bieber, 180m followers - $1.11m per post

10. Kendall Jenner, 172m followers -$1.05m per post

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Instagram, SPORT, TV and Film, Music, Money, Social Media, US Entertainment